Time For a Face Lift

Nearly twenty years ago I acquired this little modified V boat.  Back then she was nearly new but time has a way of taking its toll on both man and machine.  Over the years seats, electronics and the bow mounted trolling motor were replaced.  The boat was still functionally sound but the carpet had long since seen its best days

Frontal shot showing the wear and deterioration.

Carpet completely gone in high traffic areas.

Having never done this kind of work before the entire job was a learning process.  The first lesson I learned was that a great deal of disassembly was required to do the job right.  Some items such as the trolling motor mount and rear hatch cover were held in place by rivets.  These all required removal by drilling and replaced with stainless steel bolts.

With the interior stripped down to the frame the laborious job of cleaning the parts began.  A paint stripping disk mounted in an electric drill did a great job removing the old glue.

Cleaned parts: rear deck and floor pan

Remembering the old adage; measure twice cut once, I was able to cut the carpet with no major mistakes.

Marine Adhesive is used to glue the new carpet in place

With major panels covered and in place the boat begins to take on its new look.

Reinstalling the rod holders and other accessories along with covering the hatch lids with aluminum diamond tread panels completed the job.  Total cost $255 in materials, 29 hours of my labor.

The 'ol girl now is now ready to carry me into another twenty years of fishing & waterfowl photography. if only I can last that long :)